Joe Biden praises former Vice President Walter Mondale

President Biden commemorated his “dear friend,” former Vice President Walter Mondale, as “one of the great giants of American history” during a service for the late Minnesota police force on Sunday.

“He was loved by the American people because he reflected the kindness of the American people,” Biden said of Mondale, which Ronald Reagan crushed in the 1984 presidential election.

Biden remembered Mondale, who died April 21, as a close friend and supporter “not on a political level, but on a personal level.”

“He was one of the best men you’ve ever known and the fairest person I’ve ever dealt with and one of the toughest and smartest men I’ve ever worked with,” the president said. “God bless you, my dear friend.”

Biden also recalled how Mondale, Jimmy Carter’s vice president from 1977 to 1981, inspired his own turn as vice president under Barack Obama.

“Fritz said his greatest strength is not his expertise in a specific policy area. It was the real personal relationship he formed with President Jimmy Carter,” Biden said of Mondale.

“Fritz embraced everyone with the belief that everyone has the right to be treated with dignity.”